Dhoni magic
With 18 points from 13 games, a win will give them 20 points, which is unlikely to be achieved by any other team.
In their previous match against Delhi Capitals, skipper Dhoni and Suresh Raina guided the team to a challenging 179 for four and then restricted the opponent to just 99.
Terrific Tahir
Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja shared seven scalps between them as they wrecked havoc.
Dhoni, Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis will look to score big runs in Mohali, while Tahir and Harbhajan will aim to flummox the Kings XI batsmen with their spin magic.
Ashwin's worries
In contrast, Kings XI Punjab, who are already out of the play-offs race, would be playing only for pride.
KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin admitted that powerplay has been one of his team's "massive problems".
"Powerplay has been one of our massive problems. Most games that we won is because through the middle overs or sometimes in the death overs where you had some incredible performances by (Mohammed) Shami or Sam (Curran), something like that," said Ashwin.
Gayle force
Their in-form openers Chris Gayle and K L Rahul, who have been among runs, would be keen to come good against CSK.
The likes of Sam Curran, Mayank Agarwal and Nicholas Pooran will have to shoulder more responsibility in the middle-order. Their bowling largely depends on skipper Ashwin and Shami.